U.S. Pat. No. 5,354,088, granted Oct. 11, 1994, to Dennis A. Vetter and Eric L. Eaton discusses snowboards, their use on ski slopes, the need for the snowboard rider to have one leg free for use to push himself/herself forward on the snowboard, and the problems encountered when mounting and dismounting a chair on a chair lift. The invention of U.S. Pat. No. 5,354,088 provides a step-in/step-out rear foot mount for a snowboard. Such invention is characterized by a detachable connection between a snowboard boot holder and the snowboard. The present invention provides a step-in/step-out mount between the snowboard boot and the snowboard boot holder.
Application Ser. No. 08/609,287, filed Mar. 1, 1996, by Eric L. Eaton and John C. Bitow, relates to front foot mounts for snowboards which allow the rider to rotate or pivot his/her front foot in position on the snowboard. It also relates to such snowboards which are provided with a step-in/step-out type rear foot mount. The present invention is usable with such a snowboard. The step-in/step-out foot mount of the present invention can be used with the rotatable or pivotal front foot mount in Ser. No. 08/609,287. It can be used with such a mount for both the front foot and the rear foot. Accordingly, Application Ser. No. 08/609,287 is hereby incorporated into this application by this specific reference.
The step-in/step-out snowboard boot holder of the present invention could also be used with the apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,354,088 for adjusting the angular position of a boot mount on the snowboard.